


what's luv.

by kaoiyia



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Biting, Blood Drinking, Dirty Talk, Face-Fucking, Face-Sitting, Fluff, Genital Piercing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Menstrual Sex, Mutual Pining, Nipple Play, Nonbinary Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Pining, Praise Kink, Size Kink, Slow Burn, Sugar Daddy, Trans Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Vampire Bites, Vampire Sex, Vampire Sylvain Jose Gautier, sylvain jose gautier has a big dick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:13:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26789503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaoiyia/pseuds/kaoiyia
Summary: Sylvain hums. "Please tell me if you feel uncomfortable."Felix nods, unable to trust his voice. Sylvain bows down, and his hot breath fans over Felix's skin. He's unsure what to feel, torn between Sylvain's chilly fingers and boiling breath. His face feels hot as Sylvain stares up at him. Felix nods again.Sylvain opens his mouth, red seams around white pearls, and Felix watches, breathless, as he guides his limp arm to his lips. His teeth sparkle and Felix can't look away as they dig into his skin like a knife into butter.After he loses his job, Felix struggles to pay for college. Luckily, there is a handsome vampire in dire need of a feeder.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 19
Kudos: 98
Collections: FE3H Monsterfucking Weekend 2020





	what's luv.

**Author's Note:**

> **A collaboration with[Denise](https://twitter.com/kitsukkit)**   
> 
> 
> WOW. This was a labor of love. I worked on this fic for the entirety of October, all my friends know about it and had to endure my endless excitement about the WIPs Denise sent (and my own lol). I'm so, so, so excited to finally share it with all of you! 
> 
> I decided to split the story into two parts because I was  
>  a) unsatisfied with the second half on the upload date  
>  b) college is starting again and I'm swamped with work  
>  c) I need a breather from this story, I've worked on it for so long 
> 
> I hope you're not mad :( 
> 
> I hope you'll love this story at least a bit, despite it being 2 parts long. Please have fun reading! Denise and I worked super hard on this!

Felix turns down all calls by his father while staring at the stark white wall of his one-room-apartment. It's close to month's end, lilies of the valley seam the verges of the broad walk in front of Felix's window. He dreads the fateful morning he’ll wake up to the letter by his landlord in his mailbox, and he'll be homeless on the icy streets of Fhirdiad.

He knows his dad will be mad and confused. His expression is burned on his eyelids, torturing Felix whenever he closes his eyes. He knows how his mouth will turn down. He knows how Dimitri will get that gentle look in his eyes as if Felix was a scared animal in need of his unwavering protection. Felix dreads them, his anxiety holding his heart in a merciless grip.

His eyes wander back to his phone. It lies on his white bedsheets, lost and lonely, reflecting the insides of his soul. His fingers tremble when he reaches out. They haven't stopped by the time he saves Yuri's number out of his chat with Ashe.

Yuri waits for Felix in a small bar nestled between the dead-end of an alley and a closed-down restaurant. Felix wonders who the hell would even find their way to this place.

Many, apparently. The second he enters, a warm wave of heat scares away the cold April chill that has clung to his body. A woman with a suspicious amount of body hair greets him. “You’re Felix, right?”

Felix shifts until his feet find themselves in a defensive position. “Perhaps,” he answers, fingers flexing against his palms. 

The woman raises her eyebrows. “Yuri told me.”

Felix raises his eyebrows but doesn’t shift his stance. He opens his mouth, ready to doubt the woman but a warm hand on his shoulder prevents him from doing so. Felix whips his head around, and his stomach clenches when he sees Yuri’s pointy ears and silken smile.

“It’s fine, he’s just being noisy.”

Felix growls but Yuri ignores him, tugging him through the bar towards the table in the hindmost corner.

“You got a job for me, fairy?” Felix asks as soon as they sit down.

Yuri nips on his drink. “It’s Elf. But I sure do, urchin.”

Felix shoots Yuri an angry look. “Stop calling me that.”

“An eye for an eye, urchin.” The smile on Yuri’s lips tells Felix his death glare has no effect on supernatural beings. He huffs. “I don’t get why I had to come all the way to his hideous bar.”

Yuri smiles, saccharine-sweet. “Oh, I thought you’d appreciate some sort of distraction. You’re always so uptight.”

Felix growls. “Just give me the information.”

Yuri gasps in faked offense and swirls his hand around. Out of thin air, a purple piece of paper and an envelope appear, accompanied by a _poof_ and golden sparkles. Yuri hands it to him with a sly grin.

“Got to know a hungry vampire who got a thing for feisty humans.”

Felix grimaces. “A pervert?”

Yuri chuckles. “Not directly, but I’d be careful.” he leans forward. “Vampires are predators after all.”

Felix slides both items into his jeans pocket while Yuri’s sparkling eyes follow his every move. “You want to stay a bit?” He twirls his hands again until golden sparkles surround it. “We could drink something together.”

Felix clicks his tongue. “No, thank you.”

Yuri rolls his eyes and drops his hand. “Dear god, I hope the vampire will make you less spiky, you little urchin.”

Felix flashes him his middle finger as he leaves the bar.

The building is enormous. Felix crumbles the paper between his shaking fingers as he stares up to the huge windows. It looks like a defense tower against the gray clouds, parrying off the sunbeams that reflect on the glass front. Felix doesn't belong here, in his torn black jeans and blue turtleneck. His black boots look inadequate compared to the shoes of the passing by business people.

The guard gives him a strange look as Felix enters. "Excuse me, Sir, do you have an invitation?"

Felix's skin prickles. "Yes, I do." He pulls out the envelope Yuri has given him. The guard scrutinizes it with interest and suddenly, his eyes light up. He makes an inviting gesture to the inside.

"Please, come in, I wasn't aware Mr. Gautier awaits guests."

Mister Gautier. Felix repeats it on the tip of his tongue, rolls the letters around.

The elevator is sleek and modern, and Felix is greeted with his own mirror image as he enters it. He grimaces. The wind outside ruffled his bun and some streaks are protruding from the mass of black hair.

He picks at it, but his shaking fingers don't help. Frustrated, he clenches his hand to fists. Why is he nervous? This isn't something he should be intimidated by. He stares at his boots. They're dusty. Frustrated, Felix looks up, exhaling loudly.

He rides all up to the penthouse. Of course he does. The ride becomes more uncomfortable with every passing second. Faintly, Felix imagines pushing the button for the ground floor and walking straight back out the way he came. But that would mean to phone his father. And if there is one thing Felix wouldn't do in the face of death, it's asking his old man for help. Or worse, Dimitri.

The elevator pings and Felix rolls his shoulders, trying to get more confident. It doesn't work.

When the door opens, Felix forgets to breathe. The man is tall, towering over him and staring down with eyes of molten gold. Freckles dust his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, and Felix loses himself in the vivid comparisons with galaxies.

"Hey," the vampire says and winks. Felix swallows and watches the red wisps of hair dancing across his forehead. He nods when he realizes that the silence becomes unbearable.

A grin stretches across the vampire's lips. "You're Felix?"

Felix frowns but nods. 

The vampire grins wider. "You want in?"

The vampire's apartment is overwhelmingly luxurious. Felix tries to find it distasteful but can’t. When he looks down on the wooden tiles, watchful eyes stare back at him. The living room is vast. Gray dots of furniture line the walls and the ceiling is far above them. The fear in Felix's chest roars, rises up and rages behind his ribs like a caged tiger. Sylvain smiles, and Felix’s beneath his watchful eyes. "I'm glad Yuri found someone who," Sylvain's lips twitch, "wouldn't be turned off by the weirdness this job brings."

Felix eyes Sylvain out of the corners of his eyes. There’s something regal to his posture, something commanding in how he holds himself. Felix knows Yuri didn’t lie to him, he takes Ashe’s word for this. Yet, everything Sylvain does is against Felix’s expectations. It angers him, to have fallen victim to Yuri’s words like that. Yet, the uneasy feeling in Felix’s gut doesn’t disappear. 

What if this is nothing but a bad joke? Yuri could have changed the content on the paper after Felix left the bar.

The doubt takes over when Sylvain hands him a glass of water with an unwavering smile. 

Felix growls and points at Sylvain. "You're not a vampire."

Sylvain chuckles. "Of course I am.," he says and suddenly, there's a different sparkle in his eyes. Felix feels like prey under his heated gaze, as if he was about to be ripped apart by hungry fangs and wanton claws. Felix swallows. Sylvain opens his mouth, his lips pop apart and path the way to his pearl-white teeth. Felix watches, breathless and tense as they stretch further apart, further until his teeth stop being straight and become sharper. By the time they reveal his long fangs, Felix has forgotten how to breathe.

Sylvain's voice is deeper and dips on Felix's skin like molten chocolate. "I don't lie about such things"

Sylvain's smile is promising, hinting at something unknown to Felix and Felix has to restrain himself to not reach out with trembling hands. The sun lurks past the huge clouds, illuminating Sylvain’s face. “Can I sit down next to you?”

Felix inhales and nods.

“So," Sylvain says and sets down his glass. "Where do you want me to bite you?"

Felix frowns. "I thought my neck would be the only place possible."

Sylvain grins his mischievous smile and looks Felix straight into his eyes. "Well, it depends. We could go the classical way of course," his eyes dip down to the expanse of Felix's neck and warmth spreads through Felix's body. "or we go with something less obvious. We don't want people to think a wild dog got the best of you." He winks again, and the warmth in Felix's stomach turns into heat. 

He looks down upon his arms. The teal sleeve hugs him snugly and Felix's lips are open before he realizes it."How about my lower arm?"

Sylvain hums. "That could work."

Felix nods and rolls up his sleeve, his eyes fixed on the vampire. Strong cords of muscles flex under his pale skin. When he looks up, his eyes meet Sylvain’s.

Sylvain gets up and crosses the distance between them. The couch dips down under his weight as he sits down next to Felix. “Your arm is it then.” 

Felix nods and stretches it out, his eyes fixed on his teeth that reflect the sunlight like diamonds.

Gentle fingers touch his arm and leave goosebumps in their wake. "You have pretty veins."

"Thank you," Felix swallows. Outside, the sun sets and Felix watches the sun becoming the same color as Sylvain's eyes — those eyes that Felix finds himself unable to deal with."

Sylvain looks down on him, leaning closer until the cushions dip down. Felix watches his hands fiddling with the fabric of his jeans. For some reason, he doesn’t shift when Sylvain opens his mouth and his words are close enough to make Felix’s chest vibrate. "Are you sure about this?"

A part of him wants to say no, wants to rip away his arm from Sylvain's giant hands and warm smile, and to run back to his apartment. But it's small compared to the part that reminds him of his father's eyes, heavy with disappointment.

"Yes," Felix says and raises his chin to avoid drowning in doubt. 

Sylvain hums. "Please tell me if you feel uncomfortable."

Felix nods, unable to trust his voice. Sylvain bows down, and his hot breath fans over Felix's skin. He's unsure what to feel, torn between Sylvain's chilly fingers and boiling breath. His face feels hot as Sylvain stares up at Felix. Felix nods again.

Sylvain opens his mouth, red seams around white pearls, and Felix watches, breathless, as he guides his limp arm to his lips. His teeth sparkle and Felix can't look away as they dig into his skin like a knife into butter.

At first, Felix feels nothing. His eyes are glued to Sylvain's plush lips as they lay on his skin. It's a trance that tempts Felix to lose himself. Sylvain groans, and it rumbles through his body like an earthquake, shaking the heat that's been nesting in Felix's chest since he entered the apartment. 

But suddenly, reality punches him in the gut and the feeling in his arm returns. it hurts. Felix winces, and when he sees a gleam of white, his heart starts racing. It startles his numb thoughts, jostling them up between heat and numbness. They spiral down, choke Felix until every breath rattles through his lungs.

Felix gulps against the rising fear tries to calm himself down. It doesn't work. The whirlpool grows deeper, down to his very core, drowning every piece of him. Felix feels cold, chills running down his neck and he realizes he's trembling.

But then there's something warm, something big on his cheek. Felix opens his eyes (he didn't realize he closed them) and looks straight into molten gold.

And everything turns numb.

It feels like he's floating and his vision grows hazy. Felix gulps, his lips pop open and there's a sudden tingling in his lower belly and Felix shifts on the couch, trying to explore it. It spreads down, further and further until it reaches his folds. Felix moans. 

Sylvain's hand still rests on his cheek, an anchor in the depths of Felix's desire.

His body feels soft and limp, and Felix can't help but sink back into the cushions. They envelop him as if they were a shield against the onslaught of Sylvain's being.

Sylvain growls, like a lion, and Felix gasps. His arm vibrates and it shakes his entire body.

A sudden fit of strength makes Felix able to rip his arm from Sylvain's greedy mouth. Pain chases through his veins and horror pulls at Felix's stomach as he sees the wounds Sylvain's teeth ripped into his flesh.

He stares at them until he hears harsh panting. Slowly, he raises his eyes and they meet Sylvain's heaving chest. They wander higher until they reach Sylvain's straight jawline and flexing chords in his neck beneath unblemished skin.

His eyes are huge, pupils blown wide. Felix's heart crashes against his ribs as he stares down the never ending black that chased away the gold out of Sylvain's eyes.

Felix shivers, can't stop shivering as Sylvain's gaze glides down to the puncture his teeth left in Felix's skin. Drops of blood trickle down his arm, and Sylvain's nostrils flutter.

The look in his eyes is wild, and it makes Felix's heart quiver. He's defenseless against his scent, still lingering around him. Slowly, the anxiety creeps back. It settles into his stomach and nests there, assaulting his senses. Felix stares at Sylvain, watches the thick cords of muscle work beneath his skin, paralyzing him. 

Right now, there is nothing Felix could do to stop Sylvain from having him. No way he could make himself fight the vampire off; now, he belongs to Sylvain.

And he hates it.

The realization bursts inside him and he scrambles back, hands slipping over the expensive leather. Sylvain's eyes follow him like a predator.

Sylvain raises his thumb and swipes off some blood from the corner of his mouth. Felix's eyes follow his movement - it makes his chest pulsate. He averts his eyes when he realizes Sylvain has caught his gaze.

"Are you okay?" Sylvain's voice rumbles like thunder through the air. 

Felix flinches, his skin sensitive to the force it carries. He nods and tugs his arm close. His fingers graze the lines of his wound.

Sylvain fixes his eyes on something behind Felix, and his expression turns distant. The heat vanishes and is replaced with a muted form of interest. Felix watches the change out of the corners of his eyes.

Suddenly, the lines of Sylvain's face become alive again, stronger than before. He's glowing against the twilight that shimmers through the apartment. His smile is sharp and Felix regains his footing. "My spit will heal the wounds, don't worry about it, it should be okay in a few hours."

Felix grimaces, and it elicits a chuckle out of Sylvain.

"A bit of ew comes with a vampire."

Felix tugs down his sleeve. "I suppose."

Sylvain doesn't stop grinning until they reach the door.

"I'll send you the money on your bank account, it should be there in a few days," he says as a goodbye. 

Felix nods and Sylvain closes the door. The sound of the door rings through the hallway and Felix’s ears. The elevator pings and Felix is about to get in when the door opens again. 

Sylvain hastens to him and interrupts Felix mid-walk. “I almost forgot,” he says and hands Felix a small piece of paper, “Here, my phone number.”

Felix raises his eyebrows. “What makes you think I’d ever call you?”

Sylvain winks. “Oh you know, gut feeling.”

Only after Sylvain has vanished into his flat again and the doors of the elevator close, Felix recognizes the warm feeling spreading through his stomach. He glances at his reflection out of the corners of his eyes and scowls. “No,” he tells himself.

The warmth stays.

A loud ping disturbs the silence of the chilly Saturday morning. With sleep in his eyes, Felix feels for his phone. A grunt of recognition slips out of his lips as his fingers land on the display. With squinted eyes, he searches for the new notification.

_Sylvain Jose Gautier transferred 300 euros to your bank account._

His stomach swoops. Through the trembling of his hands, the grip on his phone slips and it lands directly on his face, making him grunt. The birds outside his window are loud, and the branches rustle under their weight. Felix shoves his phone from his face and it lands on his mattress. The resulting vibration wakes Poppy, who starts purring right next to Felix's arm. He flinches, they're close to the tender part where Sylvain pierced his skin.

A peek beneath his blanket tells him his skin looks normal, but to Felix, the memory of white teeth and velvet blood is still swirling in front of his eyes. Felix clenches his eyes, trying to suppress the heat that pools in his stomach. It doesn’t go, instead; it settles in the depths of his belly. Felix frowns and allows his body to fall back on his hard mattress. Poppy licks his arm. Felix grumbles; her spit sure won't heal him like Sylvain's.

His fingers wander back to his phone and hover over Sylvain’s contact name. Curiosity throbs in his chest: why did Sylvain send him so much money? Felix’s trembling fingers push the messaging app button and a new window opens, Sylvain’s name on top like some sort of omen.

 **Me:**  
Why did you send so much money?

He stares at his screen for several more seconds before he locks his phone. This is stupid. Poppy meows loudly and she graces him with a disappointed glare as if she wanted to say, “Stupid human, getting irritated by his feelings.”

The thought that his cat seems to be smarter than him makes his heart clench.

Later that day, when he meets up with Ashe, his cash app works. An euphoric smile spreads on his face and Felix dreads the inescapable onslaught of questions. He speaks up before Ashe can open his mouth. "Yes, I talked to Yuri, and I got a job. Nothing else."

Ashe is vibrating by the time they sit down. Felix groans and waves dismissively.

Ashe squeals in joy. "What did Yuri say?"

"He gave me the address of some vampire."

Ashe's grin turns impossibly wider. "A vampire? What's their name?"

"Gautier."

Ashe chokes on his tomatoes and the yogurt dressing sprinkles the grey surface. Felix grimaces.

Ashe's eyes are huge as he looks at Felix. "Gautier?! Sylvain Gautier?"

Felix raises his right eyebrow. "Yes."

"Do you have any idea who he is?" Ashe asks and his white napkin squeaks over the surface.

Felix grunts. "Obviously not."

Ashe leans forward, arms crossed on the table. His eyes are dead serious. "He's part of an ancient vampire family."

Felix stabs at his kidney beans hard enough to make their brown insides gush out of their red skin. "What do you mean?"

Ashe takes a sip from his coke. Over the rim of the bottle, he looks at Felix with portentous eyes. "They don't do business with humans."

Suddenly, the weight of his phone in his pocket triples. Felix swallows and looks down on his vegetables. Sylvain’s kind eyes flash through his mind and his heart presses against his rib cage.

“Whatever,” he growls and squishes some corn grains beneath his fork.

Felix’s phone vibrates just as he sits down to study. With all possible answers to Ashe’s or Annette’s questions on his lips already, he unlocks his phone. As he pulls down the status bar, Sylvain’s name burns in his eyes like sunbeams. The message is short enough so Felix can read it already.

 **Sylvain Jose Gautier:**  
You’re worth it. :)

Felix doesn’t answer.

Ashe’s words don’t go away. They stay with Felix for the next two weeks. Like an ominous omen, they drape over Felix’s thoughts whenever he looks at his chat with Sylvain. They don’t leave him alone when he shows up at Sylvain’s doorstep at 3 PM every Friday, and they echo through his head while he tries to memorize all topics for his animal neurobiology exam.

On the Friday of his exam, Poppy doesn’t greet him when he gets into his apartment. It’s not too uncommon, considering Poppy takes some midday naps from time to time. At least, that’s what Felix tells himself. The second he enters his bedroom, an agonizing meow greets him. Felix snaps his head around until his eyes discover Poppy on his bed. Frigid fear clenches his heart as he recognizes she’s shivering.

Her body is limp when Felix puts her into the carrier box. She doesn’t move when Felix runs to the subway station or when he enters the animal hospital. The man behind the counter, Dr. Eisner, greets him with a concerned expression.

“Felix, I didn’t think you’d show up so soon after your internship.”

Felix lifts the carrier up the counter. “My cat is ill, I checked everything but I’m unsure what it could be.”

Dr. Eisner nods. “We’ll check her through; take a seat in the waiting room.”

Only when Felix has sat down in the empty waiting room and put Poppy on his lap, he realizes he has to text Sylvain. With shaking hands, he unlocks his phone.

 **Me:** **  
** Can’t come today, got an emergency.

It takes less than a minute for Sylvain to answer.

 **Sylvain Jose Gautier:** **  
** Are you okay? What happened?

 **Me:**  
My cat is ill, I’m at the animal clinic.

 **Sylvain Jose Gautier:** **  
** Do you need money?

Felix stares down on his phone, mouth dry. His bank account is more loaded than it has been in months, 700 euro waiting for him to spend. Yet, he has to pay his rent. Felix bites down on his lip. Before he can start typing, his phone vibrates again.

_Sylvain Jose Gautier t_ _ransferred 600 euros to your bank account._

All air leaves Felix’s lungs. His eyes are fixed on the message, even as he blinks, it doesn’t disappear. Sylvain just sent him 600 euro. Just because his cat is ill. Suddenly, fury chases through his veins. His vision is blurry when he smashes the call button.

“Why did you send me money?!” Felix hisses as soon as Sylvain accepts the call.

Sylvain’s voice is gentle when he answers, “Because I’m worried.”

The anger in Felix’s chest spears through his veins. “I don’t need your pity.”

“It’s not pity, Felix,” Sylvain answers, tone suddenly as serious as when he had shown Felix his teeth. “It’s compassion.”

The anger that built up in Felix’s chest falls flat. He blinks, unable to form a coherent sentence in his mind.

“Look, I can just not pay you the next two times, if that makes you feel better.”

Felix's mouth is dry and he has to clear his throat. Voices in front of the waiting room door reach his ears and Felix tugs Poppy closer. “You better not.”

Sylvain’s chuckle sends a shiver down his neck. “Sure thing. Good luck with your cat; let me know how she’s doing over the weekend, alright?”

Felix grunts and ends the call the same moment that the door opens. Dr. Eisner smiles at him. “We’re ready now, Felix. Second door on the right; you know your way around.”

Two days later, Sylvain already awaits him at the door when Felix leaves the elevator. His eyes are wide in concern. “You didn’t text me.”

“Hello to you, too,” Felix grunts and walks past Sylvain.

Sylvain follows. “Is your cat well?”

Felix nods while he takes off his shoes. “She is; she injured her paw. Most likely, she fell down the windowsill.”

A warm chuckle echoes through the flat. “Why did she fall down?”

Felix grunts, and tries to suppress a grin. “She must have tried to get to the birds who live in the tree outside my window.” A single look at Sylvain’s shining eyes and dimples is enough to break through his shaking barriers and he grins as he sits down. “You know, dumb cat behavior.”

Sylvain sits down on his armchair, his grin still dancing on his lips. “My my, Felix, I thought you got an intelligent cat.”

Felix grunts and takes the glass of water from the table. “She’s fast enough to rip you to pieces, vampire, so don’t test your luck.”

“Oh, I’m shivering!” Sylvain says, laughter coating his words.

The familiar warmth returns, wrapping Felix into a soft cocoon. It’s not fury that rushes through his mind, but confusion when he asks, “Why did you send me money, Sylvain?”

Felix’s eyes are fixed on Sylvain’s face, watching Sylvain studying his face. The weight on his eyes is familiar on Felix’s skin. 

Sylvain exhales deeply before he says, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I simply don’t want to put you through the same agony I experienced.”

“It’s fine,” Felix says and puts down his glass. “What experience?”

Sylvain turns his eyes away and Felix feels like the temperature in his entire penthouse dropped. There’s a flash of raw hurt on his face, but as soon as it appeared, it’s gone again, replaced by sterile neutrality. His voice is husky when he replies, “I used to have a dog, a long while ago.” He turns his head, fixing his eyes on Felix’s. Felix swallows. “Let’s just say, I didn’t have someone to care for me, back then. I’d hate to give you the same feeling.”

After that, Felix doesn’t mention his cat again. When he’s home, he snaps a picture of Poppy as she lies on his couch. 

**Me:** **  
** She’s doing better.

 **Sylvain Jose Gautier:** **  
** I’m glad! I was really worried about her. What’s her name?

Felix stares at the message for a few seconds before he changes Sylvain’s name in his address book.

 **Me:** **  
** Poppy.

 **Sylvain:** **  
** The name of a feisty warrior, indeed!

Felix chuckles and looks down at Poppy. She blinks at him and her purring rattles the entire bed. One glance at the screen doubles the warmth in his stomach and his fingers type before he can think about anything.

 **Me:** **  
** Thank you.

Sylvain’s answer comes quickly.

 **Sylvain:** **  
** Of course, Felix. 

On Wednesday, he meets up with Annette and Ashe in the library. Heads buried behind thick books, they spend their time in silence, noting down stuff from time to time. The silence between them gets interrupted by the vibration of Felix’s phone. Like in trance, his hand glides into his pocket to unlock his phone.

 **Sylvain:** **  
** A tired bean.

Felix smiles as he looks at the photo of a fat cat lying in the sun.

 **Me:**  
Where did you find her?

 **Sylvain:**  
I was working today, and I saw it on my way back.

 **Me:**  
You work?

Sylvain’s next answer takes a while, and Felix stares at the appearing and disappearing dots at the bottom of the screen.

 **Sylvain:**  
Family business, you could say.

Felix hums, fingers hovering over the buttons but Ashe’s cough interrupts him. When he looks up, he looks into two pairs of eyes.

Felix locks his phone. “What?”

Annette cocks her head. “Who texted you?”

“Sylvain.”

Annette and Ashe gasp loud enough for the people on the nearby table to look up. Ashe edges forward on his seat. “You’re texting now?”

Felix raises his eyebrows and picks up his book again. “Yeah, why?”

Annette and Ashe look at each other with an expression Felix can’t quite place. After a few seconds, Annette smiles at him. “That’s great, Felix.”

“Thanks?” he answers.

It's a seething hot May day, the last tulips are dying, and the city smells of a mix of different deos and a faint hint of ice cream.

Sylvain's apartment feels like the peak of a mountain when Sylvain lets him in. Felix can't suppress a little, relieved groan and Sylvain chuckles in return. "Oh you’re sweaty,” he takes a quick look outside, “It's hot, right?" Sylvain says and extends his hand. 

Felix watches the towel dangling from it. Oh. Felix nods, “Yeah, not the best weather.”

Sylvain closes the door. “I hope Poppy won’t fry in the heat.”

Felix rolls his eyes and takes off his shoes. When he puts his shoes next to Sylvain's he realizes that his ones are a few sizes smaller. Felix's heart picks up. "She’s not stupid."

Sylvain chuckles, “Pets take after their owners, after all.” He walks past Felix. "You want some water?"

Felix grins as he follows Sylvain into the vast living room, “You wanna say I’m stupid, vampire?”

Sylvain’s laughter rings through the apartment. “Perhaps?”

The apartment is colder than the smoldering heat in the park. The cool air of the aircon smoothes around Felix's shoulders as he takes the glass of water from Sylvain. He averts his eyes, and fixes them on the park visible through the windows. "I’ll stay today.”

Sylvain cocks his head and falls down in his armchair. “Why’s that?”

Felix nods at the window. "It's too hot, I can't walk around with an injury like that. Got training later. It would be weird." And it would give you away, Felix thinks but doesn't say.

Sylvain cocks his head. "Oh, right, good point. What kind of training, though?" He looks outside, fixes his gaze on some point in the distance. Felix watches his profile and notes the slight stubble on his jaw and cheeks. Suddenly, the apartment doesn't feel as cold as before.

Felix looks away, but the heat stays. He looks up again when he sets down his glass. “Fencing.”

Sylvain’s laughter strokes the heat in his chest. “For real, Felix?”

Felix grunts. “For real what?”

Sylvain leans forward, spreading his thighs so he can fold his hands between them. Felix notes the muscles shifting beneath the dark jeans fabric. He takes another sip of water. “This fits you a lot?”

Felix looks up. “Why’s that?”

The smile on Sylvain’s lips makes Felix’s heart skip a beat. “It fits a fighter like you.”

The following weeks are dominated by smoldering heat, so Felix stays in Sylvain’s apartment after Sylvain finishes drinking. Just as the weeks get enveloped in a honeyed rush, Sylvain melts beneath the summer sun, allowing glimpses on his true self from time to time. Something in Felix flourishes whenever he is able to witness such a moment.

"It's the end of May already, isn't it?" Sylvain asks one Friday.

Felix stops reading Annette's text and looks up. "You need to go outside more often if you end up forgetting such important things."

Sylvain turns away from the window, and a grin dances on his lips. "Living up here makes me forget a lot of things."

Felix locks his phone and takes a proper look at Sylvain: His eyes seem distant, something Felix has only seen two or three times before. But just like every time, it makes his stomach clench. It doesn’t fit Sylvain to look so sad; his face is made for gentle smiles and glimmering eyes.

"My exams start in a bit," Felix says, a tiny part of him hopeful to cast away the expression on Sylvain’s face.

"Oh," Sylvain simply answers and fixes his eyes back on the clouds. "I was born on June Fifth."

Felix looks at his phone and shifts on the couch. "How old will you turn?"

Sylvain's chuckle is dry, like sandpaper on Felix's skin. "I stopped counting a few centuries ago."

The silence creeps back and lies down on their shoulders, heavy and unyielding. Felix continues to look outside, his hands limb at his sides. They- no, Sylvain is alone up here. It's the highest building in the vicinity, and when Felix looks at Sylvain, watching him staring into the distance, thoughts far away from the moment, he wonders if the warmth smoldering the streets even reaches him.

Felix swallows, and when his phone chirps, he uses it as an excuse to go. When Felix looks at himself in the mirror in the elevator, he recognizes worry swirling through his eyes. 

Sylvain’s wistful eyes stay with Felix for the rest of the week, and it's during some anatomy crap he tries to memorize when he realizes it's the fifth of June, Thursday.

Felix swallows. The awareness is enough for his brain to run wild. 

He imagines Sylvain in front of one of his huge windows, staring outside, a glass of whiskey in his hand. What does his expression look like? Felix bites his lip. He'd try to hide the pain, Felix is sure, but he's also sure that it exists, beneath thick layers of practised casualness.

His fingers swipe over his phone before his brain could even protest, and then he's dialing Annette's number.

"Hey Fe," she says but Felix doesn't even greet her back.

"Do you have time to bake?"

Annette sounds confused when she answers. "Now?"

"Yes, now," Felix says and throws on his shoes. Annette sighs.

"Get over."

The peach cupcake smells strongly. Felix wrinkles his nose when he walks over from the elevator to Sylvain's door. God, he hopes Sylvain will like it; Felix sure can't eat it. The bell chirps through the silent hallway. Felix shifts on his feet, his hand shaking with his avoidance of crushing the cupcake between his fingers. He waits, breath rattling through his chest.

Driven by anxiety, he reaches out again to the doorbell only to be interrupted by heavy steps. The door opens and Sylvain looks disheveled.

Felix's arm falls against his side. His eyes are fixated on Sylvain's messy hair that tickles his eyebrows and the deep shadows beneath his eyes. His smile feels void of any joy when he looks at Felix.

"Hey, you got hungry on the trip here?"

Felix looks down on his cupcake and all of a sudden, it feels foreign in his hand.He didn't wrap it, deemed it to be unnecessary. But now, Felix desperately wishes for something to cling onto. Felix opens his mouth and watches the words stumble out. "It's for you."

His mind roars at him, for being so stupid, to think Sylvain needs his comfort while he's obviously so inadequate to rise up to his expec-

Sylvain's smile gets a bit wider and suddenly, there's a gleam to it, so white Felix wonders if he can stay looking at it.

"I won't be able to eat it all by myself though," Sylvain says. When Felix's eyes meet his, he winks. 

The rising heat in Felix's stomach spurs him on, and his voice doesn't tremble when he answers, "Idiot."

Sylvain's laugh breaks through the ball of anxiety curled up in Felix's chest, and when he enters Sylvain's apartment, he takes the first deep breath since he has rang the bell.

Weeks tickle by in a honeyed rush. June turns into mid-July and Felix's shirts into crop tops and bralettes. He manages to spend some time with Annette and Ashe at one of the many lakes in their city. It's a good distraction from the tedious studying Felix throws himself into. Sylvain's messages act as periodical reminder to take some breaks Felix would have ignored otherwise. His exams happen over the span of a few weeks and only one of them happening on a Friday. Of course it's the one that takes longer than anticipated, there's some planning error that prevents them from starting in time. The ticking of the clock haunts Felix over the expanse of three hours and when he's on his way to Sylvain, the traffic's so bad that he leaves the tram and walks the remaining three kilometers. On his way, he texts Sylvain.

 **Me:** **  
** I’ll come a bit later today, my seminar lasted longer than anticipated.

 **Sylvain:**  
No problem! Hope you don’t melt :P

Felix opens their chat when he enters the elevator. The clock in the elevator above the door shows 4:10 PM and he shifts on his feet until a ping rings through the air. When Felix crosses the hallway to Sylvain’s apartment, his eyes fall on the doorframe. The door has been left ajar, and dull voices echo through the hallway.

"What are you talking about?"

Felix stops only a few steps away from the door. Sylvain's voice sounds different from how Felix knows it. It's like someone draped a heavy coat over it, all scratchy and unwelcoming. It chases a shiver down his back.

"I'm not coming back," Sylvain says and despite Felix's fear, his mind makes up an image of Sylvain's face, how his golden eyes stir out of the window, how they lost their shine, replaced by a vicious gleam. His mouth must be tense, just like always when he is talking about something that suggests deep fear.

Sylvain makes an ugly sound, between a sneer and a derisive chuckle. "Do you believe threats will change my mind?"

Felix swallows, leaning forward to the ajar door. Something in the quality of Sylvain's voice changes, like he has leaned forward. His voice is quieter when he says, "I'd rather burn in hell than to come back to you and your filthy humans."

Filthy human. Felix's stomach clenches, and his blood runs cold. His eyes wander towards the floor which turns into swirls of white marble. Ashe's words rattle through his mind.

_They don't do business with humans._

Is he nothing but a tool, ready to be disposed whenever Sylvain feels like it? Memories flash before Felix's stinging eyes, memories of Sylvain's kind eyes and soft smile, the way he leans slightly forward whenever he listens to Felix. Or rather, pretends to listen. Fury races through his veins - how could he have been so stupid?!

Felix inhales as he hears Sylvain's doorsteps. He stumbles back to the elevator, hands shaking as he pushes the button. The elevator's still there, and just as Felix enters it, he hears the door open.

Sylvain's concerned eyes and soft "Felix?" is the last thing Felix sees before the doors fall shut.

**Author's Note:**

> **_DRAMA BABY DRAMA_ **
> 
> Kudos and comments mean the world to me, regardless of length! I'd love to hear from you! 
> 
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